Cold Truth
by we-bears-babygirl
Summary: Clark and Lex are miles apart in their friendship. Clark's secret is such a huge issue between them that they can't see a secret they both share. Will it really take them freezing to death for them to finally talk? Only them, right?
1. Chapter 1

This was a hellish nightmare! In the span of a week, Lex has been shot at...twice. Lana once again kissed Clark, then dumped him. Chloe is pissed at him for some odd reason, and on top of all that, senior year at Smallville High sucked.

Every week meant a new missing person's ad or an obituary in the Torch. Too many students were getting killed and Clark couldn't save them. If it weren't for his mom and dad, he would have packed up and moved up north, far north. For months, he's been hiding up here in the barn. What hurt the most, no one has bothered to visit. No one except his parents...

"Clark?" Martha called. Her footsteps clacked on the steps as she came up to the loft. She found him sitting at my desk, faking an attempt at homework. "Clark, are you okay?" She held out a wrapped plate and the smell of fried chicken filled the room. Clark walked over to her, taking the plate. She sat on the worn, sunken couch and patted a spot next to her. He fell down beside her, putting the plate to the side. She shook her head, "You're not going to eat? Clark, you can't punish yourself for what everyone else has done. It's not healthy to hide up here all the time."

"I'm not hiding," He mumbled. Her eyes sparkled as she smiled sadly. He sighed. "I know. I'm sorry, Mom. It's just, Chloe and I are fighting again. Lana and me are...-I don't know what we are, and Lex-" He stopped, unable to continue. Between all the close calls, the bouts of vulnerability, and the constant suspicions, he and Lex grew miles apart. Clark knew he could try to understand Lex if he tried hard enough, but it was remarkable how black-and-white Lex was being the king of gray. He could understand Lex's darker moments if there were good intentions behind it. It's not like he was as white as snow either. "Lex wants either a complete human or a complete freak. He won't just accept that-that..."

"That he has a real life guardian angel?" Martha offered, with an amused smile. He nodded, cringing at how girly that sounded. She laughed. "I think because he was raised by monsters that he doesn't understand that there has to be people powerful enough to fight them. Being raised in Metropolis, it was really hard to learn that there were honest people out there that didn't have an ulterior motive. I can only imagine how Lex sees the world being raised to be used and manipulated." He sank in his seat, closing his eyes as frustration rose in him for the millionth time today. "Clark, I trust you." She put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Your father and I raised you to do the right thing no matter what, but to also protect yourself from those same monsters. No matter what, we love you. And saying that, I called Lex." He rose up, his eyes going wide.

"What for?" He asked.

"I asked him how he was since that last shooting. He says he was fine, but you left before he could thank you. I think you should go see him." He blinked stupidly. She gave his shoulder another squeeze before standing to leave, pausing at the stairs. "Just go see him, Clark. You and your friends are pushing each other apart, and I just want to see you leave Smallville with at least one friend." She descended the stairs, leaving Clark sitting there, grasping at something to say. "Go see him." She called out firmly.

"Yes, Mr. Barnes, I understand that Queen Industries is the highest bidder on Gotham's industrial yards, but I can assure you that whatever they are offering, I can double it, and also insure that the legislation for the new tax reforms vanish." Lex waited patiently as he could almost see the fat executive sweating through his off-the-rack mismatched suit. The gruff man huffed over the phone, and Lex could hear him shuffling paperwork, then smiled as he heard some of it being shredded.

"Well, ahem, Mr. Luthor, I seemed to have misplaced the approval papers for Queen Industries so it appears you are in the running for the industrial yards." Lex smiled, tapping his fingers on the glass of his desk.

"I'm glad that you could see things my way. I'll have my assistants wire the money and send the proper paperwork." He hung up the phone, not bothering with a goodbye. That fat idiot wouldn't care either way. People these days just come and go. One fat-cat executive could easily replace another. _True men of business_, Lex's father would say, _are a dying breed. It is our duty to bring back their legacy, Son._

Lex rolled his eyes, flipping his laptop closed and turning off the desklamp. His head was pounding and his eyes felt dry and crusty. His fingers ached for a cold tumbler of scotch, but one poisoning, another drunken haze where he had to fight his buzz long enough to dodge a bullet, and drinking had remarkably lost its appeal. Plus, he couldn't help but wonder how the Golden Boy that was Clark Kent viewed his drinking.

Ever since that damn day on the damn bridge, all of his life decisions were based on the reaction of Smallville's greatest hero. Every smile of approval lit his day like the sun, just as every time Clark stormed off in outrage sent him in a dark spiral filled with scotch and gold-diggers. The last time he sent Clark off the deep end, it sent him crashing so hard he ended up in a gutter in Metropolis, with no memory of the night before. That was a dark day. Then Martha Kent called, asking him how he was. The entire conversation he couldn't help but think in the back of his mind that Clark was so lucky to have a mother like her. So caring and loving, not unlike her son...

When Lex mentioned Clark, she jumped at the chance to offer him up for a visit. He accepted the offer only realizing afterward that Clark had no choice in the matter. He liked Martha even more after that, ignoring Clark's childish naivety to make them discuss whatever issue they seemed to have.

"Mr. Luthor!" Jerome's voice yelled over the intercom, startling Lex. He jammed his thumb on the speaker button.

"What is it?" he demanded. He paused, listening for a reply, but all that answered was static. "Jerome?" Static again. "Jerome!" The static buzzed and shifted, then clicked off. Ice rushed through Lex as a laugh started over the speaker.

"Hello, Mr. Luthor." The voice's accent was thick. Russian, Lex realized. "I do apologize for your security's overreaction. Good help is so hard to find these days." He heard footsteps thudding through the hall. He reached under his desk, retrieving the gun holstered to one of the metal legs. "Oh, Mr. Luthor, do put your weapon down. It won't do me any good to bring in a corpse." His arm lowered, but he didn't release the gun. Shadows passed in front of the glass doors before the thugs burst into the room, weapons drawn.

"Drop it!" the biggest one yelled, training his gun on Lex. His accent was American. Most likely hired help. Lex held the gun firmly in his hand, desperate for an opportunity to escape. The biggest one moved forward, letting his flunkies circle Lex. "I said drop it, Luthor." His finger tightened on the trigger, aiming it between his eyes. "Now," he growled. Lex gritted his teeth as his relaxed his grip on the gun, allowing one of the thugs to yank it from him. Two pairs of meaty, sweaty hands gripped his arms, dragging him off to the other side of the room. "Joe!" he snapped. A smaller man walked into the room, a computer propped on his arm. "You got the code?"

"Yeah, Boss." His voice sounded as young as his face, as if they had just yanked him out of technical school.

"Open the safe and get the stuff." The young man ran over to the bookshelf, quickly opening the secret panel and revealing the heavy safe door. He kneeled in front of the lock, breaking open the code panel, and hotwiring it to his laptop.

"If you wanted money, there were simpler channels you could have gone through." Lex said calmly. The big man laughed.

"It ain't money the boss wanted, rich boy." A large clang echoed through the room, meaning the door was opened. The little man disappeared into the safe, shifting around glass beakers and test tubes, until he returned with his arms full of files and a clear glass case full of green vials. Lex's heart plummeted.

"_No_!" Lex shouted, struggling against the henchmen. They held firm, leaving Lex helpless as the smaller man left with Lex's most prized research. "Look, whatever that maniac's paying you, I'll double it! That is very sensitive material you just took!"

"Chill, baldy. You're going with it-"

"_LEX!" _Lex's heart froze as he saw a familiar mess of black hair and red coat being dragged into the room, followed by the younger man again. He was briefly distracted by the glowing, vivid green of the refined meteor rock. A groan from Clark yanked my gaze back to him. My heart started racing again.

"Who the hell are you?!" The leader yelled, pointing his gun at Clark's head. Clark didn't answer. He was curled in on himself as if sick. The bright green of the meteor rock seemed to pulse each time Clark groaned. "String him up!" He snapped at the younger man. The little man knelt next to Clark, setting the glass case next to Clark's knees. His shoulders tensed, and Lex watched confused as he saw Clark supress a shudder. He also noticed Clark's body shying away from the meteor rock. A long realized fact clicked suddenly in his head.

"_Get that away from him! It's hurting him!_" Lex yelled frantically. The thugs looked up startled. The little man used to distraction to bind Clark's hands tightly. He bent down to retrieve the case, but the leader stopped him.

"No! Leave it. Tie up the kid and take him with us. The boss will love to have some leverage over our little Playboy." The henchmen hauled Clark away, despite Lex's protests. The kid followed them closely, trying to keep the case within inches of Clark's limp form. Lex continued to struggle, thrashing in their grip until a sharp blow behind his head made everything go black.

The first thing Lex realized was that he was lying on a carpeted floor. The cheek he was lying on was burning from the friction. He lifted up slowly, his head throbbing and his stomach rolling. The second thing he noticed was a sight that was too familiar. The seats were bolted to the floor, as was the tables. The chairs were turned so anyone sitting in them could have a clear view of the endless sky outstide of the jet's windows. Jet?! It was the interior of a private jet. Bile rose in his throat. There was no telling how long he was out and there was no telling where he was. And Clark...Clark!

"Clark!" He croaked, fighting off the urge to vomit. "Clark?!" He heard a groan coming from the lavatory. He struggled to his feet, lurching from side to side as his equilibrium fought to balance itself out. "Clark, talk to me. Are you okay?" He reached the sliding door, trying to pull it, but it was locked. "Clark, say something so I know you're okay." He felt the door give a hard jerk at the bottom, as if it was kicked. "Clark?"

"Lex, help me." Lex paused, taking a deep breath. He hadn't heard Clark's voice so helpless and broken since he found him in the memory tank. He took a step back, preparing himself.

"Clark, try to get away from the door. I'm going to try breaking it down." He waited a few seconds in silence, before kicking out with his foot. His leg jarred with the force of kicking the door. The panels gave under his foot, but it stayed locked. "One more time, Clark," he called. "Hang on!" He kicked the door again, and again, until he heard something metallic break.

"Lex!" Clark groaned. Lex shoved the door aside, and froze. Clark's hair was soaked with sweat and his face was deathly pale, reflecting the green glow of the vial duct-taped to his chest. His hands were bound behind him and he was lying on his side, his feet bound also. "Lex," he sighed, trying his hardest to curl in on himself in the cramped space. "Lex, get this off of me."

Lex knelt next to Clark, ripping away the tape and pulling the vial off of him. Clark cried out in relief as Lex tossed the vial to the other end of the plane. "Lex," he said, his voice stronger. "They took my phone. It feels like we've been flying forever." Lex bent over him to untie his hands and ankles.

"We're most likely out of the country." Clark gasped, but Lex continued. "The man on the intercom sounded Russian."

"We're going to Russia?!" Clark exclaimed. Lex shook his head, pulling away after Clark was free. Clark sat up, rubbing his wrists absently. His eyes were scared and sad. Lex fought to keep calm. They needed their heads in this. "Lex, what's going on?" Lex helped Clark stand, helping him out of the lavatory and into one of the plush chairs, where he sank in on himself.

"They are wanting one of my experiments and obviously me to finish the research." He knelt in front of the sickly farmboy, gripping his large shoulders. "Clark, no secrets. Is that meteor rock far enough away from you?" Clark looked at him, his face slack in fear. It's hard for him to hide when he's weak like this, Lex thought.

"No, not really. I'm still feeling sick." He said it plainly, almost resigned. Lex tried not to get angry. If this was a meteor mutation, it was easy to understand why he wouldn't want to broadcast it. Lex looked around the cabin helplessly. To get it any further away, he would have to throw it out of the plane. "Lex, how do the toilets in there work?" The odd question brought Lex back to look at Clark. His eyes were clenched in discomfort.

"Pretty standard to any other toilet, why?" Clark nodded and pointed towards the lavatory.

"When I was in there," he rubbed his cheek, where there was a faint bruise forming, "I was trying to scrape the bottle off of me into the toilet." He flinched and curled in on himself, looking ready to vomit. "If it's flushed, I think I'll feel better." Yes! Lex ran to the other end of the plane, lurching violently to the side as the plane was hit with turbulence. He fell over a little table, landing on his side, knocking the wind out of him. "Lex," Clark called, worried. The little vial of bright green liquid rolled in front of Lex's nose. He snatched it up, moving back over to Clark.

"I'm fine, Clark." Clark whimpered as the liquid came closer to him. "But this?" He said, holding the glowing vial in front of Clark's face. Clark squirmed, shying away from it. "This will be explained, Clark." He went into the lavatory, uncorking the vial and pouring the meteor rock into the toilet, flushing it. The green liquid was sucked down the drain, disappearing. "How's that?" I yelled.

"Better," he called. I sighed, my nerves calming.

Then the world exploded. A bright, hot white light flashed sending Lex into the mirror above the sink, his back exploding in sharp pain. He cried out, just as Clark screamed his name. Wind violently whipped around Lex as he left the lavatory, seeing the main cabin in shambles. One of the wings, along with half the hull, was missing. The sky beyond it was endless and there was no land in sight. The edges of the walls were charred and warped. Clark cried out again. It was only then Lex noticed the door to the cockpit torn open. The only person in the pilot's seat was Clark, desperately trying to level out the plane.

"Lex, up here!" Lex rushed up to the cockpit, hanging on to the furniture that survived the blast. He made it up to Clark, who had already looked as if he was healthy again. "The pilot took the only parachute. There wasn't anybody else." Lex jumped into the co-pilot's seat, taking hold of anything he could to help Clark land the plane.

"Now would be a good time for one of those miraculous saves, Clark!" Lex yelled over all the crash warnings.

"It's too soon!" He replied. "I have no idea how long it will take to get over that Kryptonite!" Lex watched Clark realize what he just said. Clark cursed, pressing any button within reach. "It's no use!" He yelled.

We finally caught sight of land, only it was spinning around us and getting larger with each passing second. Lex had a brief moment of dread when he noticed no green land and all white. Suddenly, everything around him blurred and the next thing he saw was Clark's face above his, somewhere else in the back of the plane.

"Lex," he yelled over the wind. "Put your arms around me, hold on, and close your eyes. No matter what, don't let go." Lex heard the wind picking up speed and volume. Terror rose in him, forcing him to panic.

"Clark, if we die-" He started, but Clark took his arms, wrapping them around his middle.

"Shut up and hold on, Lex!" He snapped. I gripped my arms together, shutting my eyes tightly. Clark covered his body with his, trying to best tuck Lex into his chest, then held on as they crashed into the ground with a loud echo of crumpling metal. The force of the crash sent Clark and Lex rolling to the far end of the plane, back into the cockpit. Clark reached out a hand, gripping the pilot's chair in one hand, crushing the metal post it stood on. Lex heard the small groan of metal bending over the turmoil of a crashing plane. He opened his eyes a small bit, then they flew wide when they saw Clark's hand embedded in the metal, holding it in his fist like crumpled tin foil. "Hold on!" Clark cried, holding Lex around his waist. Lex shut his eyes tight again, feeling the plane turn over and over again, rolling down some kind of hill. The jet then gave a sickening lurch, and then we're free-falling, falling off a cliff. Clark and Lex screamed in terror, then they hit solid ground. The force would have sent both into the front windows if it were not for Clark's strong grip, but the grip was so tight, Lex felt something snap inside of him, making him cry out in pain. The plane stilled, groaning as it slowed, then finally stopped. For what seemed like forever, they lied there breathing raggedly, and in Lex's case, groaning in agony.

"I think you broke something." He groaned. Clark suddenly released him, lying him gently on the floor of the cockpit. When Lex straightened, he cried out as a sharp pain speared through both his back and his side. He looked up at Clark, then the chair, which had Clark's handprint perfectly embedded in the metal. Clark shook his head, panicking.

"No! Lex, I'm sorry." Anger rose in Lex. Even after all of this, he still is trying to deny Lex the only thing he's ever wanted from Clark.

"Sorry about what?!" He snapped. "Clark, after all of this, how in the hell can you possibly look me in the eye and try to lie?" He looked away. "Look at me, dammit! What makes you possibly think that I would believe-" A brief flash of red on Clark's arm stopped me. "Clark! You're bleeding." Clark's brows furrowed in confusion, then shook his head.

"I'm not hurt, Lex." His eyes widened in comprehension and he rushed around behind Lex. "Lex, your back! There's glass!" Lex twisted around ignoring the pain in his back and side, and caught a glimpse of large shards of mirrored glass sticking grotesquely out of his back. Blood loss then hit him like a tidal wave.

"Would you look at that?" He managed to slur before everything went black again.


	2. Chapter 2

"Dammit, Lex!" Clark ground through his teeth as he pulled another piece of broken glass from his back. Lex stayed unmoving and unconcious, but his breathing stayed even. Clark did another X-ray scan to see if the glass pierced anything. Lex, once again, was a lucky ass bastard. The longest shard had reached his heart, but it missed it by a half of a hair. Now Clark was playing nurse, and he had no fucking idea how to do it.

The last piece of glass was gone, and Clark reached for the first aid kit he found under the sink in the lavatory. He opened the white case, looking at the piles of medicine bottles and guaze. One of the bottles he grabbed was aspirin. He pocketed it. He also stashed away some extra rolls of guaze and bandages, just in case they are not found right away. He paused, staring at the criss-cross slashes across Lex's back, which had managed to stop bleeding. Surely they would be found, right? Then Clark shivered as he thought of something else. Does he want them to be found? Lex knows about his stregnth and the Kryptonite. When they get back, will Lex whisk him away to a lab? Tie him down and cut him open?

Lex groaned and shifted. Clark put a hand on his shoulder to still him. Lex craned his head, grunting in pain, to look at him. "How bad?" he asked.

"It's not bleeding anymore," Clark simply said. Lex chuckled.

"Do you know what to do?" Clark shook his head. "How deep were they?" Lex watched Clark closely, his eyes hard. Clark sighed, and just told the truth.

"The deepest was less than a millimeter away from your heart." Lex's eyes widened, then a small smile curved his lips. Clark shivered as heat rushed through his body at the sight. He looked away and back at the bloody gashes.

"Would it be alright if I asked how you knew that?" Lex watched, hoping, until Clark shook his head, his eyes pleading. Lex sighed, frustrated, then cursed under his breath. "Jesus, Clark! I thought I was just in shock. You could have told me it's below freezing outside." Clark looked up, confused. Lex curled in on himself, shivering, teeth just starting to chatter. Clark tried to look out of the cockpit, but the windows were buried under white powder. He scanned the hull of the plane, his X-ray vision switching on. Outside of the plane was a flat, barren landscape, hills of snow rising and falling out of the ground, large columns of ice shooting out like shards of broken glass. No people, no buildings, not even many animals. He pulled his vision back to Lex, his form shaking violently. Clark yanked off his jacket, draping it over him. Lex pulled it close to him, groaning in relief. "Clark," he said, once his teeth stopped clacking together. "We need to sew up those gashes. If they start bleeding again, I could bleed out. And they need to heal, especially if we're going to be walking in this." He said, gesturing to the snow piled on the windows. "Please tell me we just crashed a few miles away from a city in Russia. Maybe Mongolia?"

Lex's heart fell when Clark shook his head again. "I think we're much further north than that. I'm seeing icebergs all over the place." Lex swore under his breath. He struggled to sit up, groaning in pain. He managed to half-sit, propped on one elbow.

"Clark, I hope Mrs. Kent taught you a little sewing. If not, we're going to create some nasty scars." Clark felt like he was near Kryptonite all over again. His stomach rolled and growled as he picked up the strong needle, with what looked like fishing line looped through it.

"Um, Lex?" he asked, anxious. "I don't think I should..."

"Look, Clark, just focus. Don't break the needle, and for God's sake, if you rip the skin off my back, you'll be sorry." Clark shifted uncomfortably, the imagery in his mind not helping.

"Lex, I don't know what you're-" he started off weakly.

"Clark!" Lex interrupted. "You are not going to lie to me and tell me that you didn't crumple that steel support like cheap aluminum." He turned to face Clark, ignoring the agony spiking through him. That first aid kit better have codine or something strong. "You are not going to tell me that we just survived a plane crash by the might of your invunerability alone." Clark looked away, color rising in his cheeks. Lex could still feel heat pulsing off the boy's body, like a self-sustaining furnace. He continued when Clark finally looked him in the eye, "And you are not going to sit there and tell me that you didn't have a severe reaction to the meteor rock, or as you called it, Kryptonite." The alien word leaving Lex's lips made something weird stir in Clark, it was strangely warm and giddy. Clark shook it off with a shudder. "So here's what is going to happen. You are going to sew up my back, telling me why steel and high-speed crashes don't leave a scratch, but a green rock brings you to your knees. Got it?"

Clark couldn't speak. His worst fear and his deepest desire has come true. His heart pounded, and he fought not to break the fragile little needle in his hand. If he tells Lex, he will finally have someone that could possibly understand what he's going through, but also, he could be signing a one-way ticket to Area 51. He distracted himself by digging the needle into the deepest gash, Lex cursing him loudly. He tried to picture his mom sewing. In and out, over and under, then clicked in his mind. He relaxed partially as he realized he could sew the gap closed as if he was lacing a shoe, zig-zag up, then back down.

He had lost himself in the work, and was on the third cut when Lex's voice finally stopped cursing long enough to snap, "I'm waiting, farmboy!" Clark sighed, deciding to just tell whatever Lex could guess.

"Ask and I'll answer, Lex." Clark said dryly. "It might give you a break from all this swearing. I may have been raised in a barn, but I know the thin line between being in pain and just being a potty-mouth." Lex scoffed. Clark caught him rolling his eyes, mouthing 'Potty-Mouth?'.

"Whatever, Kent!" Lex took a deep breath, flinching as Clark pierced a tender spot too close to his side. "Alright, first thing's first, the meteor rock? Why is it harmful to you and why did you call it Kryptonite?" Lex jumped, crying out, when Clark accidentally pulled to hard on the wire.

"Sorry," he mumbled. He finished the third, starting on the fourth. "Ever since I was a kid, I've always been sort of allergic to the meteor rocks." He paused, thinking, then shrugged it off. Lex had probably already figured that out, but he still said, "If I'm exposed for too long, it could kill me."

"So all those times you were so-called vulnerable?" Lex asked, his breathing quick.

"Sometimes, I was exposed. Others, um, it's a different story." Lex nodded.

"And what you called it?" Clark finished stitching the fourth, observing his back to see if there were any more needing attention. After a moment, he put away the bloody needle and opened a pack of adhesive bandages.

"Kryptonite," Clark replied, heart hammering. His hands shook as he covered the stitches. "That scientist, Dr. Swann, t-told me that's what it w-was called." He cringed at the obvious tone of his voice.

"God, you're a terrible liar, Clark. Which is ironic, considering I'm learning your, say, decades old secret." Clark grimaced, the usual guilt gnawing at him. "I guess it's part of the grander plan, right?" Clark didn't answer. He didn't need to. "What can you tell me?"

"What do you know?" he offered. Lex frowned, anger filling his eyes.

"The stregnth, mostly. I'm thinking you also have a knack for speed. There are other weird things about you, but I haven't been able to figure those out." He paused, looking thoughtful. "At least the meteor rock makes sense. I guess that means you're not just any meteor freak. Especially since there is absolutely no record of you before the meteor shower," he gauged Clark's reaction, then huffed when he saw the farmboy's shields were thrown up, "and the very first mention of your existence is in my father's records for adoption papers." He felt an odd sort of thrill when he saw Clark shift his weight, looking away guiltily. "Does my father know anything about you, Clark?" Clark's head whipped around, almost too fast for Lex to follow.

"No," he said, surprised. "No, Lex. Mom and Dad didn't want him to know a thing, even with the ship in the-" Clark cut himself off with a strong curse. Lex's pulse spiked at the admission.

"Ship?! Clark, I don't believe it." Lex couldn't help himself. He was stunned. It's been a long time since he felt like he would burst at the seams with excitement. "You're the one! The one who crashed in the meteor shower! I don't believe it! I can't wait to get back home. There's so much to learn from you-" The room blurred around him and he heard groans of metal before his vision cleared to see his wrist trapped in twisted strips of metal, the strips wound around the crushed support of the pilot's chair. "What the fuck, Clark?!"

"We're not going back to Smallville, Lex." Clark stood over him, anger setting his face like stone.

"What the hell are you talking about, Kent?" Clark crossed his arms, and Lex felt a chill that had nothing to do with the extreme cold. He replayed his words in head, then tried to hear them with Clark's ears. _Oh, come on!_ Lex thought. _He knows better than that...right?_ "Oh, come on, Clark! Did you honestly think I would strap you down and dissect you like a frog in biology class?" Clark didn't show any sign of reaction, but a slight shrug of his shoulders. "You really are something, Kent! You're the one who speaks bullshit fluently and _you _don't trust _me_? After all the shit I've been through because of the fucking meteor shower that you came down with, I deserve some kind of explanation." Clark drew back as if Lex slapped him. His facade crumbled to show something so vulnerable and raw that Lex felt like the damn boogeyman.

Lex sighed, and forced his voice softer, calmer. "Look, Clark, I'm sorry-"

"No, you're not." Clark snapped. His eyes were bright and his voice was rough with emotion. "You're right, Lex. I came down with it. Everything," his voice failed. He took a deep breath and tried again, angrier, "Everything that _goddamn meteor shower_ has done is my fault! I've tried Lex! I've tried to make up for what my planet has done to yours!" Lex watched, unable to reply, not even a tinge of excitement at Clark's admission of his extra-terrestrial origins. "And dammit, Lex! When I realized that I will never make up for it! When I will _never _make things right, the blood on my hands, innocent people who have been mutated and killed because of me, the lies, the fear every single day! I wish I could die, Lex! I wish I would just fucking die!" Clark left the cockpit, but Lex caught a glimpse of tears before he disappeared. Lex shuddered violently, the temperature in the room dropping incredibly without Clark in the room. The cold covered his skin like water, cooling him down to the bones. His shivering was continuous. His wrists jerked and spasmed in his binds, making his wrists ache and his skin chafe.

A loud tearing sound sounded through the plane. He saw fabric and metal flying through the main cabin before Clark came back, holding a huge section of the plane's carpet between his arms. He dumped the mound of fabric by the door, and walked back to the destroyed side of the plane. Lex heard him go outside, then cried out in shock when the plane suddenly tipped on its side. He held on the the gnarled chair support, his legs dangling helplessly, as the plane jerked one, two, three time before it was set back down. Another jerk and the sound of metal breaking was the last thing he heard before Clark reappeared, cradling three large tires, and a thick metal rod.

Clark dropped them next to the carpet and knelt, grabbing the rod first. He ignored Lex, as he used his strength to force the rod through one end of the carpet, stringing it like a heavy shower curtain. He also ignored Lex's gasp as he used his heat vision to weld the bar over the door, attaching the curtain as close to the door as possible.

Lex was stunned as he watched Clark shoot fire from his eyes. That was one he didn't suspect. He also had to admire Clark's brilliance, only he would be able to insulate the room with the plane's own floor. The tires were something else, though. Clark finished with the door hanging, but all Lex could do was listen as things clanked, and groaned. The plane jerked from left to right as Clark was taking it apart. Lex shook his head at the surrealness of it all. He heard the rush of Clark's heat vision again, and shifted his weight in minute relief. He didn't know what he was doing, but it was warming the air in the plane slightly, and the insulation of the thick carpet was working already.

Clark huffed in exertion and his steps were suddenly heavier, the thud echoing through the plane's hull. The carpet was pulled aside and Clark lumbered in, carrying a large twisted lump of metal. It looked like a two-layered sphere with an assortment of metal pipes fused together, but Clark held those in his hands.

"We can burn the tires, but we need to re-direct the smoke." Was all he said as he put the contraption together on the other side of the spacious room. After he set down the bulbous sphere, he stood on top of it, then with his fist, punched a small hole in the top. Lex shook his head, wondering where the hell the relief of finally having Clark's secret is. Here he was, watching Clark use every ounce of his alien-ness, and...nothing.

Clark took out one of the shorter pipes, fitting it into the hole then welding it in place, then attached the others until Lex realized he was making a chimney. He would have laughed at the absurdity if he wasn't desperate to use the makeshift fireplace. Clark took the smaller of the tires and threw it in the sphere, using his heat vision to set it ablaze. Lex almost cried in delight as he felt the wonderful heat radiating off the fire.

"Is it working?" Clark asked. He held a hand over the fire, feeling the heat, but shrugging.

"What do you mean, is it working? Can't you tell?" Clark shrugged. His face hovered over the flames, shadows dancing across his face, but Lex noticed an emptiness there, something he was very familiar with. "Clark, none of that was your fault. I remember your mom saying that you were just a little kid, and I highly doubt you could have had any control over that." Clark didn't respond. He sat there staring into the flames, then stood, using the motion to hide wiping his eyes.

"I can't get cold." Was all he said as he left the room again, leaving Lex in the thankfully sweltering heat.

Clark gathered the blankets and pillows in one of the surviving overhead bins, and ripped up four more six-foot sections of the plane's flooring, this time including the cushioning and insulation underneath. It was pitch black outside, so Clark hoped they could figure something out in the morning. He could probably run Lex to the nearest city to get a way home. After that, the guy who took them could be found and thrown behind bars. Maybe he would think they were dead and he would no longer be looking for them. That could probably give Clark time to track him down.

He looked in the small bathroom to see if there was anything else in here he could use. Without the toilet, which he used to make the main fireplace, the room looked empty, so he gathered the stuff he had and brought it back to the cockpit. Lex tried to move out of his way as he set up sleeping pads for the both of them. Lex sat there, surprisingly silent. He hasn't spoken for a while, since he started the fire. His wrists were still bound in twisted metal. Clark reached over pulling the metal apart, and Lex yanked his arms away, rubbing his wrists. He still sat there as Clark worked, ignoring him. After Clark set up the pads, he laid on the furthest one, his back to Lex.

Lex slowly laid down beside him, cradling his sore wrists, still unable to speak. He wishes he could say something, anything, but words couldn't come out of his mouth. His back was stiff and aching. His ribs screamed in agony as he tried to relieve the pressure on them. Clark must have noticed his discomfort, because Lex heard a rattle before a small bottle landed in front of him. He took the aspirin, pouring four in his hand, swallowing them dry. They laid there, backs to each other, completely silent as the fire blazed and heated the room. Lex soon felt lethargic, so he let the soft gray edges consume him as he fell into a painless sleep.

Lex couldn't sleep. He felt like he was wrapped in a sheet of ice, but it was trembling violently. The tremors racked through his frame, making his muscles tense and his bones ache. He tried to stay there in half awareness, half asleep and half awake, to escape the cold and the stiff pains in his back and sides. He groaned as he gave up, opening his eyes.

There was an arm wrapped around his waist, holding him tight enough to make it hard to breathe. Another arm was pressed into his back, both arms shaking. The skin of the arms was pale, showing the faint blue of veins. He lifted the arm around him, watching the hand spasm wildly in the air.

He started with a shock as he realized what was happening. "Clark!" He said, turning around to check on him. Clark was lying there, eyes shut tightly. His body was impossibly curled into a ball underneath the thin layers of floor insulation, his frame trembling. His teeth were bared, chattering, and his lips lost their deep pink color, looking almost blue. "Clark!" he cried, shaking his shoulders. Clark groaned pitifully, but didn't open his eyes. "Goddamn it!" Lex pulled off the blankets around him and Clark's jacket, which smelled like grass and sweat, and piled them on top of Clark, ignoring the cold as it stabbed his skin like needles.

After he secured Clark in the covers, he rushed over to the makeshift oven. The tire had burned down to nothing but a ring of thin wires. Lex ducked out of the cockpit to retrieve another tire when Clark groaned again. Lex didn't know what to think. Surely, this man who ripped a plane to pieces and built them a safe place in this frozen wasteland wasn't freezing. Didn't he say he never gets cold? Maybe its the extremes in temperature he feels?

"D-don't do i-i-it." Clark said, his voice stuttering through the trembling. "Don't s-s-start th-th-the f-fire, L-Le-L-Lex." Lex dropped the tire without thinking about it and stared at the farmboy bewildered.

"Clark, I understand you're not used to this, but you're freezing to death. I have to-"

"No!" Clark snapped. "T-th-t-There's Kr-kry-k-Kryptonite in the s-stove!" Lex backed away from the stove back over to Clark. He knelt beside him as Clark fought to stop shaking and to speak right. "If we keep burning things, I'll stay exposed. The fire is making the Kryptonite evaporate and I'm inhaling it. If we keep burning, I can't get us out of here."

Lex shivered in the chill of the air, as Clark gradually relaxed under the mound of covers. "What are we supposed to do then, Clark?" Clark pulled his jacket closer to his face, covering his nose and mouth with the fabric. He shrugged.

"I think we need to wait it out," he said, muffled under the bright red fabric. "Just try to stay warm the best we can until it's out of my system. It might take a day, maybe two."

"Says the man wearing flannel and denim. Obviously you've never visited a winter wonderland in silk and cashmere." Lex grumbled, tremors sneaking into his limbs. He rolled his eyes as he heard Clark suppress a chuckle under his jacket. He felt a hand touch his knee gently, and he jumped. Clark yanked his hand back, his eyes shining with some warm emotion.

"Take the blankets back, Lex." He sighed, handing Lex the thin, cotton blankets. "They're the only ones here and you need them more than I do." He laid the fabric over Lex's lap, curling around his jacket, holding it tightly around him. Lex shook his head, pushing the blankets back to Clark.

"No, Clark. You'll freeze. You need to stay warm until you get over the exposure. The heat will make your body heal faster."

"I don't care, Lex. There's no point in getting well again if you die." A heavy silence fell over the room as they both saw the predicament they were in. If they burn anything so they can both stay warm, Clark would be sick and powerless, but if they wait until Clark is well again, one of them, if not both of them, could freeze to death. Lex cursed, throwing the blankets over Clark as he gave another violent shudder.

Clark pushed the blanket off, glaring at Lex. "I don't want it, Lex! Use it for yourself!"

"You'll freeze to death, Clark!" Clark sat up, gripping his jacket tighter until Lex heard seams popping.

"It's doesn't matter if I do." He muttered, then spoke louder. "When I get my powers back, I'll get us home. Until then, you stay alive. Is that so hard for you to get?!"

"You'll die before you get them back. Is _that _hard for _you_ to get?!" Clark flinched, then after a moment, he shook his head.

"Just please take the blanket, Lex." he pleaded. "I don't care if I die, but I'll be damned if you go with me." Lex wrapped the blanket around him with a curse, as Clark shut his eyes, giving in to the tremors racking his body.


	3. Chapter 3

Clark had moved over to the farthest side of the room, curling in on himself as tightly as he could. Lex held the blanket around himself, feeling like a right bastard as he watched Clark shiver uncontrollably. Clark's skin had lost its color again. Dark circles ran deep under his eyes, making him look exhausted, as if its been years since he had a good night's sleep.

"You look exhausted," Lex noted, for the sake of talking. Clark glanced at him, before turning further away. "I guess farmboys can't exactly sleep in, and all that strain on your body has to catch up eventually."

"Just shut up, Lex." Clark snapped, crossing his arms. The hostility in his tone sent Lex reeling.

"What the hell is with you, Clark?" He turned his face away, hiding his expression. "Is telling me the truth so disastrous that you would rather die than to live your life knowing that I know about you?" Clark only shuddered in response. "You really are something, Clark! We used to be friends, you know?"

"I know," he said softly. Clark wrapped his arms around his head, rocking back and forth. "_God, this is hell!_" he yelled through gritted teeth. He shot up to his feet, stumbling from one side of the room to the other, the sudden movement shocking Lex. Clark was breathing in shuddering gasps as his body trembled from head to toe. Lex shivered himself as a gust of icy air managed to sneak under the thick curtain of carpet and up his back. Lex looked back up when Clark stopped, kicking the stove. "You want to know what's wrong with me, Lex?" Lex nodded slowly, afraid to answer.

Clark's eyes shone with rage, but Lex knew him well enough to see that emptiness there too. "I hate this! If I wasn't this _freak_, we would be home. If I wasn't a freak, we wouldn't be here, waiting to die." Clark collapsed, curling into the wall. "If I never existed, Lana would have her parents. My Mom and Dad wouldn't have nightmares of their only son being poked and prodded like a lab rat." He wrapped his arms around his knees, looking like a child hiding in a closet. "Every single person that has been affected by the meteor rocks would be completely normal right now. The people who have died would be okay. And you," he trailed off, his trembling lip having nothing to do with the cold.

"What about me?" Lex asked softly. Clark shook his head, coughing wetly. "Clark, please." He pleaded. A small, angry tear trickled out of the corner of his eye.

"You would have hair, for one thing." He attempted a smile, but it was weak. "Lionel wouldn't have paraded you around like a circus freak. You could have had the life you wanted."

Lex stood up, coming within feet of Clark, then knelt beside him. He reached out a hand to comfort him, but just cautiously laid it on the back of Clark's neck. Lex winced at how cold Clark's skin felt. "I'm going to stop you right there, Clark." Clark took a deep breath, it shaking as it came out. "If you never existed, I would be dead. There have been countless attempts on my life that would have happened whether you were there to save me or not. If you never existed, Lionel would still hate me. To him, I'm weak. And after that day I hit you on the bridge?" Clark winced. "I became even weaker." It was hard for Lex to see Clark like this. Even when he thought Clark was human, he was always his rock. No matter how crazy things got in his life, Clark was there, either saving him or hating him, but he was there regardless. Now Lex had to be the hero. Lex shivered at the brief thought that he wasn't Clark, which meant he could easily fail. "It's moments like these that I realize just how weak I really am."

Clark huffed, his breath a puff of fog, and his teeth started chattering. "Mmm-moments-s l-l-like wh-what?" he asked.

Lex smiled fondly, and sighed. "When the greatest friend I've ever had is sitting here, sick and freezing, while I sit here, clinging to my pathetic life." Clark looked at Lex, confused. Lex looked back at Clark, watching his green eyes sparkle, and his full lips fight to hold what pink color it had left. Clark shook his head, thankfully letting the topic drop.

"W-whatever you say, L-lex." He sighed, his teeth clacking together.

Lex squeezed the tension in Clark's neck, trying to help him feel calm. All Clark did was shiver. "How long until the Kryptonite wears off?" Clark shrugged.

"I d-d-don't kn-know." He huffed in irritation. "I c-can't f-f-fucking t-t-talk!"

Lex rolled his eyes, then sat closer to Clark. "This is ridiculous! Come here, Clark." Clark looked up, bewildered, as Lex wrapped his arms and the blankets around him. Clark reluctantly curled into Lex's chest, looking impossibly small in his arms. "Better?" Lex smirked as Clark mumbled something about 'bald bastards'. "Think you can talk now, farmboy?"

"Fuck you," he grumbled, the shivering subsiding. Lex held him tighter, revelling in the other man's body heat, what little there was. Clark groaned then covered it badly with a cough, also using the cough as a half-ass cover to scoot closer to Lex's body.

"Clark," Lex said, impatiently, "how long until you're normal...well, normal for you?"

Clark grumbled an insult again before speaking. "I don't know. The last time I inhaled Kryptonite, I nearly died."

"Did your body heal on its own?" Lex dreaded the way Clark left off the story. His heart dropped in his feet when he felt Clark tense.

"No." Lex swallowed down the urge to curse loudly. Of course the one time he survived meteor dust, he didn't know how it happened. "Mom and I were minutes away from dying when the ship healed us. She was actually presumed dead when it healed us."

"Of course you were. This isn't the same, though, is it?" Clark shook his head.

"That time, I didn't even know what was going on until I collapsed. It snuck up on the both of us. This time, I knew right away something was wrong. Even when I was making the stove, it felt heavier than it should have been." Clark's body gradually started to warm in Lex's arms. They both curled around each other as the natural desire for heat took over. Lex felt his thoughts drifting away from the frozen tundra they were trapped in and onto the body in his arms. The heat radiating off this strong body was intoxicating and the feel of Clark's muscles under his hands was torturing him.

Lex wasn't blind. Clark was the embodiment of the ideal man. Strong, flowing muscles under tanned skin with blazing green eyes and wavy black hair, not to mention the gorgeous smile that lights up the whole room, but with this Adonis, came the golden apple of chaos. Not only would the age difference between the two of them be scandal enough, but also the simple obstacle that Clark was painfully straight. If his love affair with Lana, who spent more time crying than breathing, was anything to go by.

Clark's muscles released all of their tension in the heat of Lex's body. He could smell Lex's cologne. It smelled spicy, but also clean, bringing to mind oceans and lightning storms. He could also feel the hard, lean muscles of Lex's chest, and hear the light beat of his heart. Clark squirmed as he felt the man's body affecting him. There was no way. Lex couldn't possibly want Clark. A man like Lex would only want a boy like Clark if he wanted to be splashed all over the tabloids. There was also a little wrench in the works known as Lex no longer gay. Chloe was more than happy to share the mud she dug up on Lex, but what Clark didn't realize was exactly how dirty his past was. He had both nightmares and daydreams of Lex with dozens of faceless men, and then he had started having dreams of himself being those faceless men, getting fucked in an alleyway in full view of the paparazzi, photographed pulling his pants up in the back of a limo, and perhaps on his knees, tasting Lex in a filthy bathroom in some random club.

_Not helping!_ His mind screamed as his cock pulsed, pressed against his jeans. He curled up tighter, supressing a groan as the friction made his cock jump. He shuddered, wishing that he could get over this Kryptonite soon.

Lex felt a little concerned about Clark's silence, but it gave him time to try to will away the erection growing between his legs. The closeness of Clark's body was getting to him. He never realized just how bad he wanted the farmboy. Every time he thought of Clark, it was always about what he was hiding, what amazing secret lied underneath. Now that he finally learned Clark Kent's origins, his mind revealed a secret of its own. _Jesus Christ, I'm in love with him!_ All those hours Clark spent in his study, playing pool with him or just talking. All of the late nights in his kitchen, while the cooks made Clark's simple favorite, a banana split. Lex hated them, but he would still share if Clark asked. All of Clark's brilliant smiles, the way his eyes lit up when he laughed, and...the way his lip bled when I finally gave in to the dark desire to lash out at him, and find out once and for all if he was human.

"I'm so sorry, Clark," he said, broken. "I understand why you don't trust me. I must have shown you exactly the kind of man your dad warned you about. I'm sorry I couldn't be a better friend. I'm sorry you couldn't trust me with this."

"I've always wanted to tell you, Lex, but I kept thinking that if my secret got out, I would be treated like a monster. That I would be locked away in some government base like a filthy animal. I kept thinking that you-" He pulled away from Lex's chest to look him in the eye. Lex saw the fear in Clark's eyes and knew that he would make sure the nightmare doesn't become a reality. "Lex, you watched me tear a jet apart, weld metal pipes together with my eyes, and carry a half-a-ton pile of metal through the hall like it was nothing. Are you afraid of me?" Lex and Clark stared into each other's eyes, trying to see what the other was thinking. Of course Lex wasn't afraid. If Clark wanted to hurt him or kill him, he certainly had plenty of opportunities to do it, and plenty of reasons to do it. Even during those weird spells of rebellion, he never seriously injured Lex. Staring at this amazing man's luminous green eyes, Lex couldn't hold it in any longer.

Clark's lips felt as soft and as warm as they were the day they met. Clark squeaked in surprise before returning the kiss with a deep groan. Lex felt overwhelmed as Clark drove the kiss deeper and hotter. The heat of their bodies escalated as they pressed impossibly close. Clark broke off the kiss, letting Lex gasp for air as he brushed his lips down the man's pale neck.

"Are you afraid?" Clark asked, his lips grazing Lex's pulse. Lex shivered as the cold air brushed his heated face, and shivered again as he felt Clark's teeth nip his skin.

"Not afraid." He said gruffly. He groaned loudly when Clark's calloused hands found his chest, his skin tingling everywhere the farmboy touched him. "Will never be afraid." That seemed to unlock something inside Clark. It was as if the dam broke loose and Clark pounced, forcing his lips onto Lex's, hands everywhere, and suddenly Lex was on his back, being worshipped by the alien.

Clark took the time to undo the buttons on Lex's shirt, knowing they needed all the clothes they had, but he was getting impatient as he knelt over Lex, no longer in his warm embrace. His fingers were shaking and clumsy by the time he reached Lex's belt, but he held on long enough to undo the pants before he pulled everything off Lex, then he stripped himself, less carefully. His shirt ripped, but luckily his jacket survived his hurried pace. His jeans only tore a fraction when they caught on his foot, but once his boxers were gone, he was embraced by Lex, both sighing in relief when the heat returned. Their embrace was a confusion of soft skin and the rough cotton of the blankets.

Lex sat up, with Clark straddling his lap, their hard cocks bumping together. Lex marveled at the fact that even in this frozen hell they were in, Clark still felt like a living bonfire. Every inch of skin he touched burned from the inside, and he swore he could feel the blood pounding underneath Clark's skin.

Clark's hands were everywhere. Lex's chest, his back, the firm biceps that flexed in his palms, and every inch of skin he touched was perfectly smooth. Lex's breath hitched under his rough, calloused touch. Clark's cock twitched painfully at the beautiful sound.

The two men shivered uncontrollably, the frozen air swirling around them. Lex was starting to feel desperate. Either he was getting used to Clark's heat, or it was steadily declining. "Clark," he said, his voice husky, "We need more."

Clark nodded, his muscles cramping again with convulsions. "I know," he replied through gritted teeth. He alarmingly noticed the blue tinge in Lex's skin, in Lex's lips. He stretched out his body, draping it over Lex's, and covered their bodies with the rough blanket. Their eyes met, inches apart, and Clark saw pain and fear, with only a small hint of foggy arousal. "Lex," his voice was quiet. His heart pounded and his body shook, aching from want and cold. Lex's hands were suddenly on either side of his face, holding their gaze steady. "I thought you said you weren't afraid." The fear in his eyes brought a cold in Clark's chest that had nothing to do with the frozen landscape. "You said you weren't afraid." Emotions Clark didn't think he had boiled to the surface, and his eyes burned with tears. Hate him? Sure. Kill him? Maybe. But Lex afraid of him? It made him want to die.

"I'm not afraid of you, Clark." Lex said, his voice trembling. Lex shut his eyes, closing off Clark's open, kicked-puppy vulnerablility. God, he was a monster! This person, so good, and so pure, willing to risk his life every day for the devil in Armani. He took a deep breath, chancing a glance at Clark. Those eyes could extract honesty out of anyone. They were so bright, like the sun, nothing could hide. "I'm afraid of what's going to happen." The words clawed their way out, needing to be said. Clark's brows came together in question, but he tensed, understanding the meaning.

"We're going to get out of here." Clark assured, but Lex could hear the uncertainty. "I'm healing already. When I get my strength back-,"

"Clark, what if it comes too late?" Lex snapped, needing to hear the truth. "What if you freeze before that happens?" Clark pulled away, moving to lay beside Lex, but kept their bodies pressed together from shoulder to toe. Lex's dread flowed thicker when he could feel that Clark was there not because Lex needed the heat, but because he did. "What if you die, Clark?" He suppressed the urge to kick himself when he heard his voice crack.

"I really don't care, Lex." Lex deflated, fighting off the emotional turmoil that impending death often brings. Clark was obviously wrestling with his own bout of mortal depression. Clark took one of Lex's hands in a firm grip, pressing it to his cold lips, ripping a dry sob out of Lex's chest, before speaking, "You need to live. I don't."

"_How can you fucking say that?!_" Lex yelled, his throat raw with unspoken words. "Of all the meteor freaks, and downright bum-ass hicks in our backwater town, what makes you think that you deserve to die out of all of the rest?"

Clark sat up on his elbow, staring down at Lex with a stony glare, his eyes too watery for comfort. "I'm a monster, Lex. That's why. You want to know why I have loved you for years but never acted on it?" Lex gaped, stunned silent. His heart exploded with the unspoken words. It pulsed with the emotions flooding through Lex, until his throat sealed shut and small, angry, scalding tears trickled out of the side of his eyes. Clark ignored it. He looked at the hand in his grip, grimacing. "I could break your hand, Lex. Without even trying, I could shatter every single bone I'm holding. I could rip you in half as easily as you could a piece of cardboard." He dropped Lex's hand as if it burned him. He sat up higher, throwing the blanket off of himself, and wrapping his arms around his knees, bracing himself against the icy air. "I could fuck you so hard that I break your neck," his voice trembled, and it was forced. The pain in Clark's words made Lex's chest constrict in agony, "or I could get so turned on that I set you on fire with my eyes. Growing up, I never thought about the consequences of falling in love with a human, but after meeting you," he fixed Lex with a glare. "I did. Ever since then, all I've wanted to do was die." Lex couldn't help himself. He just lied there, watching Clark's face grow darker, hopeless, until Clark turned away, convulsing again.

"Clark-" Lex started.

"_Please, Lex_!" Clark snapped. "Just trust me when I say stay the hell away from me!"

"No," Lex said sternly. He took Clark's chin in his grip and forced Clark to look at him. "You may be a god among men, Clark, but that gives you no right to take my choice away from me!" Clark didn't respond. Lex forced Clark's legs down, sraddling his thighs, bringing their eyes level. Clark stared into his, willing Lex to accept what he's trying to tell him. Lex was having none of it. He's suffered a living hell of a life because and quote, '_It was for his own good._' He was not about to let his only hope for a good life do the same thing.

"Lex, please," he tried to plead. Lex shook his head.

"You have spent your whole life sacrificing things you've loved because of your miraculous lineage, but this is where it stops. I told you once that we would be the stuff of legends. We will." A spark of hope flickered in those green depths, but Lex could almost see Clark trying to squash it in his mind. "I won't stand by and let you dig your own grave. If I have to, I'll grab a shovel and dig one for me too." Clark's breath caught.

"I'll hurt you." He said again.

"I know, and I will hurt you. I will lie to you. I will stab you in the back. I will make you question your love for me at least once a week, because whether you're a monster or not, I was raised to become one. I don't think you are a monster, far from it. I think you're an angel from heaven sent to torture me, because I _am_ a monster. I look into your eyes and I see everything I will never be, everything I could possibly want, and-" Lex stopped, ashamed at his train of thought.

"You want to hurt me for it." Clark finished. Lex nodded, feeling even more like the boogeyman. "I know the feeling." His gaze was heavy and dark.

"Do it." Clark's eyes widened impossibly. Lex would have been amused if his chest wasn't filled to the brim with self-loathing and fear. Clark's mouth opened and closed, grasping for something to say, so Lex saved him the trouble. "Don't think I'll just be a punching bag, Clark. I'll be swinging, too."

"This is not normal," Clark gasped, shaking his head.

"We're not normal, Clark." The gaze they shared grew intense, heated in the chilly air.

"This is insane!"

"And we need this! We have spent every minute since we met pushing and pulling, fighting ourselves, and because of that we're here!" He gestured to the packed snow piled on the plane's windows. He took Clark's hands in his, gripping them, pleading with his eyes. "Hit me, Clark. We're still fighting ourselves." _And you're still wanting to die..._he left unsaid. Clark groaned in frustration, shivering as a gust of cold air blew through the cockpit. "You're still vulnerable, Clark. You won't hurt me beyond repair. I am a meteor freak, you know."

Clark shook his head, confused beyond belief. Old feelings of rage simmered but he fought them down, bile rising in his throat. The thought that Lex would want..._that_, was sick, but what was even sicker, Clark agreed with him.

"I did marry Lana to get to you." Clark reeled back, as if he'd been slapped. "There was never a baby. I lied to her." Clark curled in on himself, anger souring his stomach.

"Why are you telling me this?" If Lex heard his whispered pain, he ignored it.

"We needed a surrogate, and Lana was in love with you, so I thought, eh, two birds." Clark knew it was childish, but he clapped his hands over his ears, gritting his teeth in anger. He groaned when Lex's words were still coming through crystal clear. "I continued doing research on you. That empty room you saw, was just the product of relocating my research. What I gave you were just edited copies, and that car I had demolished, we had already had every inch of that car recreated so we didn't need it."

"Stop!" Clark begged.

"We found out that you were vulnerable to Kryptonite, and that your powers were somehow linked to both that and solar energy. The chemical differences between the red rock and the green explains the fluctuations in your reactions." His voice was distant and lecturing, like he was reading a report, and he made sure to emphasize the plural pronouns. Clark fought off the urge to shut him up, to lash out. That son of a bitch lied to him! "I had a camera record you and Chloe break into my vaults when those meteor freaks held Martha, Johnathan, and Lana hostage." Clark gave up trying to block out Lex's voice, and settled for holding his hands together so tightly his knuckles went white. Lex laid a hand over them, massaging the tension out of the muscles, loosening my grip. His voice went deeper, softer. "I used that blonde's hypnotic powers to try to pry your secret out of you, but she wouldn't talk. She was too enamoured with your prowess of seduction."

"_Enough!" _It was fine when he rattled off his endeavors like a bored teacher, but in that voice, like he was speaking to a lover. Clark pushed Lex off of him and pinned him to the floor, a hand around his throat. Lex smirked, making Clark scowl.

"Clark, we need this. Make it hurt. Just because we're in love, it doesn't mean that we're suddenly going to stop coming to blows." Clark's mouth dropped open, but then his lips pressed into a grimace as he swung his fist.

It connected with Lex's chin with a force that made his vision black out. When it returned, a dull pain blossomed in his jaw and he could taste blood in his mouth. Clark lifted his head to bring his face inches away from his.

His eyes shone with raw emotions as he seethed, "You love me?"

"With my life." Lex replied softly.

Clark gave a wordless cry of rage, punching Lex again. This time pain exploded behind his eye, but he just laughed, blood trickling out of his mouth. Clark reared back to throw another blow, but Lex lept up, tackling Clark to the ground. The blanket was left, forgotten, as they rolled around the floor naked, throwing blows and curses.

Clark was pinned beneath Lex, struggling to break free. Lex held both of his wrists pinned above him with one hand while teasing his cock with the other. "Never thought you would get off on punching your lover in the face?"

"Shut up!" Clark snapped. "This is sick!" But he still moaned as Lex twisted his wrist just right around the head of his cock, and he kissed the rabid pulse in his neck.

"I've learned long ago what is truly sickening, Clark. A little blood and bruises are nothing." His grip on Clark's wrists relaxed, allowing him to 'break free' and roll them over.

"Just because you Luthors are fucked up, that doesn't mean I'll have any part of it!" Lex felt adrenalin surge through him. He couldn't even feel the cold anymore. In fact, he was burning up. Clark was sweating. Lex struggled to buck Clark off of him, desperate for the upper hand, but froze when their cocks brushed together. Clark froze, whimpering at the contact. "God, Lex," he breathed. "This is so messed up."

"Just this once, Clark." Lex cooed, bucking his hips into Clark's for a whole new reason. The shocks of pleasure rushing through him was addicting. He didn't want this to stop, but the pain blooming in Clark's eyes swirling around the arousal made his libido wilt. "Clark," Lex groaned. Clark shook his head, losing his iron-clad nerve.

"I can't, Lex."

"The only reason I opened the Talon was to get to Lana. To make her see that she could be with a billionaire instead of some farmboy!" Clark's fist clenched shut, but he held back.

"Stop it, Lex. It's not going to work."

"Then maybe this will." Lex swung, connecting with Clark's jaw. He fell over, shocked by the blow. Lex brought old anger to the surface, to purge it once and for all. "When we first met, I saw you hit that car." He followed Clark as he backed away, scared to swing again. "The very first thing I ever said to you was, 'I could have sworn I hit you.' What did you say?" Clark had backed up to the plane's hull, flinching when his sweaty skin touched the frozen metal. "Clark, what did you say?" Lex was in his personal space now. Close enough to touch, but holding back. "_Say it, Clark!_" His loud bellow echoed off the hull, the volume hurting his ears. His hands shook, and he once again gave in to the desire to lash out. Clark cried out and stumbled, holding his nose. When he stood up, his eyes blazed with anger and blood dripped from his nose.

"I said you did, Lex! Is that what you want?" He cried. He stood to his full height. His size filling the cockpit. Lex keeps forgetting just how much bigger the farmboy was. "What do you want, Lex?"

"I want this to hurt, Clark. I want every urge I had to hurt you, every dark desire to see you bloody and beaten gone! You're so...so..._pure!_" His head was starting to ache with the rush of blood pounding through him and his cock ached for its release. At this point, pride was gone, as was the looming promise of death over their heads. He wanted this push and pull, this constant battle of wills, over with.

"Fine!" In a flash of movement, Lex was turned and pressed into the ice cold metal. He hissed as the chill pressed into his chest, but then his mind was scrambled when he felt the hot, slick body of Clark Kent press up behind him. His hot breath huffed past Lex's ear as he whispered, "Let's see what pure is capable of." Lex's body tensed when a finger, slick with spit felt around for his entrance.

"Oh, God!" He groaned. Clark's other hand was on Lex's back, rubbing the tension out of his muscles. Lex gradually went limp, then he hissed when the finger entered him. He felt a small point of heat touched his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder to see Clark tracing his back with his lips, each point of contact surging like liquid fire. Before he was ready, Clark added another finger, keeping it just on the border of painful. But, Lex realized, the pain was good. He could already hear the evil thoughts of pain and resentment fading. "Clark, please," he begged.

Clark's hand on his back flexed, his fingers digging in, almost bruising. "Jesus, Lex! The way you're saying my name. It's...It's-"

"Just fuck me, dammit!" Lex snapped. He braced himself, as he felt Clark back away. He felt Clark come back, pressing the head of his cock against his entrance, smearing pre-come from the tip.

Then pressure. Unbelievable pressure entering him, the hot burn of his body stretching around Clark's dick offset the frozen chill stinging his torso. "Clark," he croaked, tears squeezing out of his eyes, "Oh, Clark! So good!"

"God, Lex!" Clark panted, holding on to Lex's hips for dear life. "You're so fucking tight." Lex's head rolled back, leaning on Clark's shoulder. His hands scrambled around, searching for something to hold on to as Clark slowly pushed his way in. The searing pain was almost too much, almost, but just enough to make the hot coil of betrayal he always felt for Clark slowly untangle. One hand held on to Clark's forearm, and the other was deep in his hair, gripping it tightly. Clark groaned brokenly, freezing in place before he came too soon. "Lex, oh, Lex."

"Yes, Clark. Yes!" Clark started again, not stopping until their bodies were pressed together. They stood there for a moment, waiting as Lex's body adjusted to Clark's body. Waited as Clark got used to the intense heat and tightness of Lex's body. The chill of the air was replaced by a humid cloud of body heat, making Clark sweat down his forehead, his back, and his chest. The aches in his jaw and in his nose were easing away as Lex's ass clenched around his cock, the heat almost unreal. "Move, Clark, please." Lex begged again. The pleading tone in his voice was driving Clark crazy. Their first time wouldn't last long, but he couldn't bear to deprive Lex.

He pulled out, until just the tip stayed inside, then thrust back hard, forcing Lex into the cold wall. Lex howled in ecstasy, pulling Clark's hair and clawing his skin. Clark couldn't help it. His mind officially shut down as he fucked Lex's ass with abandon.

Lex couldn't make sense of what was happening. He was freezing, but he was sweating. He was screaming in pleasure, but he was in pain. He loved this man, but he spent years doing everything he could to destroy him. All he could do now was hold on to this beautiful god of a man and give himself to him, body and soul. Clark's hands on his hips were gradually gripping tighter, until he had a brief moment of panic that he was going to break the bones underneath. He could feel them grinding uncomfortably, but it only enhanced the sensations running through him. He could hear himself babbling uncontrollably, praising Clark, begging him for more, to never stop, but he couldn't bring himself to shut up. Clark couldn't say words, all that he could force out of his mouth were moans and grunts.

"Oh, Clark! _Oh_!" He yelled, unable to help himself. "_Oh, fuck, Clark!_ I love you! I love you so much!" His body coiled tight, a sudden wave of fire crashing over him. "_Oh, fuck! Oh, Clark! Clark!" _He bucked and spasmed, his release splashing on the metal hull, steam rising from the cold metal. He fell limp in Clark's arms. Clark held him, almost effortlessly, as he reached his climax, Lex's tight channel milking his cock.

"_Fuck!_" Was all he said as he collapsed, protecting Lex in his arms. All they could hear was heavy breathing, and the wind beating the side of the jet. Lex shivered violently, as the cold seeped back in. Clark just laid there, half-aware of the world around them. "I love you, too, Lex." For a while, they just let the cold chill the sweat on their bodies. Clark cleaned up the blood caked around his nose, a little startled when he only came away with a tiny smear. The aches in his body and his face were blissfully missing, too. He didn't think much of it, though, when he took Lex and kissed him with every ounce of the crazy emotions that were coursing through both of them. "We're so fucked up."

"I don't care." Lex laughed, shining in the afterglow.

"Me either." Clark assured. "Not anymore."


	4. Chapter 4

**IN METROPOLIS:**

"Where is he, Oliver?!" Chloe snapped, shutting the elevator behind her. Oliver Queen rolled his eyes, typing yet another search query into the endless streams of satellite data. His head was throbbing and his eyes ached for sleep. Chloe tapping her foot next to him wasn't helping his nerves, especially after that bald son-of-a-bitch yanked the warehouse district out from under him. "Well?" She said, impatient.

Oliver sighed, shutting off the screen. "Nothing."

"Nothing. Are you kidding me? Billionaire extraordinnaire with endless resources and a small army of superpowered heroes, and you have nothing?!" Oliver frowned. Chloe shoved him aside with a huff, turning the computer back on.

"Look, Chloe, I've got Bart doing world-wide search, same with A.C.. We found the scumbag that took them, but he won't give up what happen to Clark and Lex." Chloe set to work, typing rapidly, while images from a passing satellite sped across the screen.

"It's because he doesn't know." She replied, stopping the images on a snow-capped landscape. "There was a jet under his name that was supposed to land in St. Petersburg. When it never showed, he paid off dozens of officials to keep it quiet." She smirked, flipping through picture after picture of frozen wastelands. "What he didn't know was that one of the officials had already weasled the information to a young Luthorcorp heir through an email." She glanced at Oliver, winking, "I promised Clark that I would stop hacking into Lex's things, but I'm sure they won't mind about this."

"So, where are they at now?" He asked. Chloe paused on a picture of a bright red blur, but kept going, huffing in frustration.

"I don't know, but Bart is obviously close. That picture of him was taken only an hour ago. I've looked up flight patterns from the U.S. to Russia, but also kept in mind that if he was transporting hostages that he would want to use the trail less taken." She typed in a code that lit up the display with a grid model of the Earth with red lines arcing from Kansas to Russia. Only two lines were bold while the others were faded into the background. One was curled around the entire globe, arcing over Europe and barely grazing the arctic. The other had a high arch, half the flight flying over the arctic circle and Siberia. Chloe walked around the keyboard, staring at the screen. "So what do you think, Oliver?"

He scratched his chin, feeling stubble there already. "I think that something is wrong. If the plane just crashed, Clark would have brought Lex right back. No, in order for Clark to even be taken that far, there has to be meteor rock involved." Chloe nodded, looking between the screen and the billionaire. "If Clark is vulnerable, that plane crash could have easily hurt him." He pointed to the line arcing over the arctic. "If they took this route, and they crashed, they are trapped in an endless frozen tundra."

"I know." She sighed. "I tried to go to the caves to see if I could find him there, but there was nothing. I thought for sure Jor-El would help him."

"Jor-El?" Oliver asked. Chloe whirled around, wide-eyed.

"You don't know?"

"Know what?" He asked, crossing his arms. She shook her head, moving back to the keyboard.

"About his father. Look, get Bart on the line and I'll tell you what you need to know."

**CLARK AND LEX:**

It was still cold. Clark shivered as he stayed in a foggy, half-asleep state. He and Lex were curled around each other under piles of clothing, blankets, and insulation. The heat between them had vanished halfway through the night, leaving the two spasming and swearing as they fought to stay warm. Lex had fallen asleep after hours of shivering, but Clark only settled for resting his eyes. He couldn't sleep. This cold was seeping into his bones, making him ache even more than he did before.

He couldn't help but be a little happy, though. Finally having sex with Lex made something inside of him burst, releasing all the tension and fear in him. He had been so busy wanting to hate him, to fear him, that he didn't realize that he couldn't imagine life without him. That if he lost Lex, there would be very little that he would live for.

"Lex," Clark called, shaking his shoulder. Lex's eyes stayed shut, peacefully asleep. "Lex," Clark tried, louder and shaking him harder. Lex didn't open his eyes. Clark fought off panic. Maybe Lex was really tired. Maybe he was ignoring him? "Lex, wake up," Clark said sternly. He started shaking Lex again, and didn't stop. Lex's head lolled from side to side, but he still didn't wake up. Clark noticed then how cold Lex's skin was, and how there wasn't a trace of color anywhere on him.

"Lex!" he yelled. Clark's heart dropped to his feet and panic gripped him. He tried to keep at bay, instead concentrating on Lex's chest, measuring mentally how slow he was breathing. He vaguely noticed himself breathing, counting five breaths for every one Lex took. "I've got to get you out of here." Clark jumped to his feet, hastily pulling on his clothes, then bending over to dress Lex.

Clark sped around the room, gathering anything warm that he could to wrap around Lex, building a makeshift sling to support Lex's body. "Lex," he said. "I'm going to get you out of here. I know somewhere we can get help. I just hope to God that it's not too far away." When he finished wrapping Lex in insulation and blankets, all that was visible was his face. His body was encased in a large mass of scratchy fabric and foam, while Clark just wore his jacket. "Jor-El will help us. I won't let you die. I promise." He carressed Lex's cheek, kissing his forehead. "I promise."

Winds tore through Clark, chilling him to the bone. He fought to plow ahead through the ice and snow, while his ears rang and his muscles ached. He sank into the snow, knee-deep, struggling to stay upright, while dragging Lex's form behind him, his body protected by the blankets and the sling. His lips lost all their moisture, cracking with every stabbing cold breath he took. The horizon ahead was completely flat, showing no sign of any life, human or not. Clark eyes stung incredibly, tears blurring his vision, and he was losing feeling in his limbs. The sun offered very little comfort even though it was shining uninhibited in the clear sky. "Just a little further, Lex." He said more to himself, than to the still unconscious millionaire behind him. His next breath struck him like a knife through his chest, exhaling with a dry sob. "Just a little further."

Clark could barely breathe. Every breath he took in was stolen by the wind whipping in his face. Every step he took made his body scream in agony. He lost all feeling in his face, but could still feel blood dripping from his torn lips. His eyes stopped tearing up, now completely dried out, and his head was pounding as his blood sluggishly pumped through his body. The landscape remained unchanged. Each step he took yanked a sob from him. He looked up at the sun, noting how far it's sank in the sky. He had only been walking for hours, but it felt like days. He only hoped he walked further than he thought.

Lex hasn't moved a muscle or said a word since they started their journey. Clark had been forced to stop every several minutes to check his pulse, since he couldn't x-ray his chest or listen for his heartbeat. Dread ate a hole into Clark's chest. He still hasn't recovered. His powers were still gone, and now? Clark shook his head, refusing to think about it. He will not give up. Not as long as Lex was in danger.

A bright glint of light was reflected into Clark's face, blinding him. He held a hand over his eyes, hope swelling in his chest, then it burst when he saw a distant image of a crystal fortress. He whooped in delight, coughing through his dry throat, before he broke out in an eager jog, dragging Lex behind him. Clark's chest cramped with lack of air.

The shivers rose in Lex's body again. God, he was freezing. His toes and fingers were throbbing in stinging agony, and his head felt like he got hit by a sledgehammer. He groaned, curling tighter in his warm bundle, hiding from the cold snow falling on his cheeks.

Snow?! Lex's eyes opened, seeing gray, cloudy skies above them. There were orange streaks peaking through, suggesting a sunset. He groaned again as his body fully came back online. His back and his ribs were in agony. His face was frozen and his lips were dry and cracked. He absently worried with the dry skin, before he noticed what was missing.

"Clark?!" He called. The wind howled around him, but that was it. He thrashed and kicked, wrestling out of the scratchy wrapping. "Clark!" He called louder, his voice cracking. He stood, "Fuck!" He cried, doubling over into himself. Christ, it was cold! "Clark!" He yelled into the snow. Nothing. He franctically searched the immediate area, looking through the endless white for a sign of dark hair, or a red jacket.

"_Clark!_" He yelled again, as loud as he could. He walked further, panicking on the inside. Surely Clark wouldn't have abandoned him. Did he think he was dead? "Clark, where are-" He cut himself off, tripping over something large. The snow under him formed a little hill, as if something was buried underneath. Where Lex's foot caught, the snow fell away, showing a bright red square of cloth. "_Clark!_" Lex brushed the rest off of his body. Clark was face-down in the snow, his skin pale. He flipped him over, shaking him. "Wake up, Clark." Clark stayed unconscious. Lex shook him harder, panicked. "Wake up!" Clark groaned, cracking his eyes open drowsily.

"Jor-," he started, gasping. "Jor-..." His eyes were sliding back shut. Lex shook him again, waking him back up.

"Say it, Clark. What is it?" Clark took Lex's chin in a weak grip, turning his head to see a massive icy castle, for the lack of better word, a mile or so away. "What about it?" Lex asked, turning back to Clark. Clark eye's were sliding shut again, his hand falling limply back to his side.

"Jor-...el."

"Jor-El?" Clark's mouth bent into a small smile, before he collapsed in Lex's arms, his breathing shallow. "Clark?" He was out.

Lex looked from Clark to the castle, back to Clark. Lex had a brief moment of hesitation. What made Clark so sure this was the answer? Then again, could this place, _belong_ to Clark? It certainly looked non-human, almost ethereal, like Clark. He cursed, hooking his arms under Clark's, and started pulling him towards the massive ice palace.

"Don't you dare give up on me, Clark!" Lex hissed over the howling winds. "We didn't get this far just for you to drop dead on me." He growled in effort, pulling Clark's hulking form, fighting against the wind and snow. "And when we get back, I'm going to tell Martha to lay off the apple pie!"

The inside of the ice palace was nothing but a maze of levels and crystals. Luckily, what seemed to be the center of the palace was on the ground level. Lex's awareness was slipping away, and he could barely hold the sense to stay upright as he dragged Clark's limp body to what looked like a console with different sizes of crystals sticking out. Heat was radiating from the console's base, so Lex moved Clark to it, facing him into the heat's source, before standing to his full height.

"Hello?" he called, looking around the massive ice columns. "Is there anyone here?" The temperature rose incredibly inside the palace, climbing to a pleasantly warm atmosphere. Lex's body shivered as the heat crept into him, bringing back his stregnth and balance. "Are you here?" he called louder, his voice echoing. "We need help!"

The crystal columns illuminated with an inner glow that pulsed as a voice spoke, "Welcome, Alexander Luthor." Lex whirled around, looking for the source of the voice. It echoed all around him, as if coming from everywhere. "I thank you for bringing Kal-El to his fortress."

"How do you know my name?" Lex yelled, unsure where the voice is. "And where are you?"

"I know all the humans who influence Kal-El's destiny. I am Jor-El, Kal-El's father. I have been programmed into the fortress' code to ensure that Kal-El embraces his true Kryptonian heritage."

"Jor-El, Clark, um, I mean Kal-El needs your help," he knelt beside Clark, laying a protective hand on Clark's shoulder. "This enviroment's low temperature, along with his exposure to Kryptonite, has given Clark hypothermia. He's freezing to death. We need to go back to Smallville now."

"I understand Kal-El's condition, Alexander Luthor, but I'm sorry that I cannot help the both of you." Lex shot up, glaring at the crystal console.

"What are you talking about? Are you saying that one of us will die?"

"I know Kal-El's destiny, Alexander Luthor. His destiny calls for the death of either himself or Alexander Luthor. Kal-El has been born to save Earth from its destructive path. Alexander Luthor was born to further Earth's demise. In order for Kal-El to realize his destiny, Alexander Luthor must die." His heart plummeted. This is the thanks he gets for saving Clark? A signed death sentence? He held himself, staring at Clark. How he wished Clark would wake up!

"Exactly why must I die, Jor-El? What exactly do I do to destroy Earth?"

"Alexander Luthor will use his family's wealth to obtain the ultimate seats of power, leading the Earth to destroy theirselves as we destroyed our beloved Krypton. It is destined that the son of Krypton and the son of Lionel Luthor will engage in a final battle, resulting in the death of one of the two sons. I will not allow Alexander Luthor to live, just to follow the destiny he was born to have." Lex watched Clark breathe, listening to Jor-El. The way he spoke sent him reeling back in time, to one of his father's lectures.

_Son, destiny is only a fantasy. Gods fall from grace, and mortals sail across the heavens all because of one thing: Ambition. Son, if you find it in your heart to break the bonds of limitations, you could forge your own destiny, whether you reach to Heaven or to Hell._

"I'll do it," Lex said. He cradled Clark's body to his chest. Clark's breathing was slowing, regardless of the heat. "I will kill Alexander Luthor. But first, we need to go back to Smallville. Clark is dying. He needs to go home."

"Very well, Alexander Luthor. I vow to restore Kal-El and send the both of you to Smallville, but once there, Alexander Luthor must die." Wind and snow swirled around us, as if a blizzard instantly brewed around them. Lex held Clark, curling protectively around him.

"I'll do it," he called again. "Alexander Luthor will be dead once we return." Light and sound escalated around us, until it was like being in the epicenter of a nuclear blast. All Lex could do was hold Clark tightly to him and close his eyes. Before everything went black, he could have sworn he felt Clark's strong arms wrap protectively around him.


	5. Chapter 5

**To my fans: like StarOfFeanor, I love it when yall get the story so well, yall actually go ahead of me and know exactly what I'm planning to do...I like to surprise yall, but it also makes me smile when yall take the time to figure out what's going to happen next...lol Love yall!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>LEX:<strong>

Lex didn't even have to open his eyes to know where he was. The constant beeping in his right ear, along with the scratchy drone of nurses speaking over the intercom, screamed hospital.

"Welcome back, Mr. Luthor." A deep, altered voice said. Lex's chest constricted and he opened his eyes. Sure enough, there was the Green Arrow, standing at the foot of his bed. He stood with his arms crossed, his bow in the chair behind him.

"Where's Clark?" Lex asked. He noted the Green Arrow's tension at the name. He shifted his feet stiffly, then cleared his throat.

"He's fine. He's been recovering at the Kent farm. You and I need to have a talk before you see him again." Lex felt himself slide into his corporate self, schooling his face blank and sitting straight.

"Go on." Was all he replied. The Green Arrow made a move to step forward, his hand halfway up to his hood before he paused.

"First things first, Luthor-"

"Don't call me that!" Lex snapped. "I can't say why, but I would appreciate if you don't call me that. Just Lex, if you can." The Arrow was silent for a long time before he nodded.

"Okay," he agreed, bewildered. "Lex, I know that Clark Kent revealed his abilities to you. The Kents know, too." Lex flinched. He could just imagine how hard Clark and Martha had to struggle to keep Johnathan from grabbing a shotgun. "I'm here on behalf of the Kents. They don't trust you, neither do I, but for some reason, Clark does. I'm here to make sure that his trust won't cause him to get hurt."

"I am no threat to Clark, Arrow. Once you leave, I will make sure I will never be a threat to anyone again. But for now, I want the Kents to know that Clark's trust is worth more to me than any secrets he has. At this point, I'd rather die than expose someone as miraculous as Clark Kent. Happy?" The Arrow smirked, before moving over to the chair beside Lex. He pulled back his hood, revealing a spiky mess of gold hair, then removed his glasses. His sharp angled face looked up at Lex, his brown eyes boring into Lex's. Lex realized with a start that the face he was looking into was the face of Oliver Queen.

"Well," he said, for the first time unable to find a clever comeback.

Oliver chuckled, tossing his glasses next to the bow. "Not the kid you remember from school, is it? Still not too happy with you about that warehouse district." He sighed, ruffling his hair.

Lex stared at the young billionaire, then a thought popped into his head like a lightbulb. "I think I might be able make it up to you. How much time have you got?"

Oliver looked up, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "A change of clothes and I'm free for the rest of the night. Why?"

"It may take an hour or so for my legal team to draw up the paperwork, but after that, we've got a lot of details to hammer out." Lex smiled, before holding out his hand to Oliver. "I think this may be an offer that will change your opinion of me."

Oliver nodded, taking Lex's hand in a firm grip. "I doubt it, but you can certainly try." Lex chuckled, knowing by the end of the night, Oliver would definitely trust him.

* * *

><p><span><strong>CLARK:<strong>

"Bye, Lana." She huffed before storming off the steps and speeding out of the driveway, throwing up gravel. Clark sighed. What did she want? He told her the truth she deserved to know. Telling her that he was not only gay, but in love with someone else, wasn't exactly what she expected, but it's a secret he had, so she got what she wanted.

"Bye for good?" His mom asked, standing in the kitchen's doorway.

Clark nodded, with a small smile. "I think so." Martha went over to Clark, patting his shoulder as he watched Lana's car disappear. "I was honest with her for once." She nodded, kissing his cheek. They jumped apart when Johnathan cursed loudly.

"Both of you get in here now! You've got to see this." He shouted from the living room. Martha and Clark rushed into the room as Johnathan turned up the volume on the television. "This explains where Lex has been this past week." Clark flinched. Lex was making him worried sick. A whole week since the plane crash. A week since Jor-El sent them to the Kuwatche Caves. A week since Lex and Clark last saw each other. Lex was still unconscious when Chloe hauled him off to the hospital, while Oliver took him home.

The news came back from commercial, immeadiately pasting large pictures of Lex, Lionel, and strangely, Oliver?

"_Metropolis held its breath today as rival billionaires, Lex Luthor and Oliver Queen, met at the Luthorcorp Headquarters. According to our business desk, meetings have been secretly held between Luthorcorp and Queen Industries to set the terms for a complete takeover of Luthorcorp's assets. Lionel Luthor watched, powerless, as his son, Lex Luthor, signed over the entire corporation after a bloody legal battle between the two Luthors. Queen Industries will celebrate tomorrow as Luthorcorp will officially be an extent of Queen Industries as of midnight tonight. While interviewing Lex Luthor, he boldly stated that he strives to pave the road for better things to come, and that the, quote, tyranny of Lionel Luthor will end along with the Luthor line, for Lex Luthor also states that as of the end of this month, he will have renounced not only the Luthor name, but their fortune as well. Making history as not only a prince, but soon, a pauper._" The anchor-woman on the television signed off, announcing the upcoming programs, but none of the Kents listened. They stared blankly into space, stunned into silence.

"Son of a bitch," Johnathan said distractedly. Martha only nodded, while Clark could barely keep himself in the same place. The only thing he could think to do was find Lex, and kiss him, or kill him, or something!

The roar of an engine broke the silence. The Kents all looked up in the direction of the kitchen door as the engine got closer, then shut off. Clark sped over to the door, barely going back to human speed before he reached the door. A modest dark blue pick-up truck was sitting in the driveway, but the bald man in the driver's seat made Clark look twice.

Lex driving a pick-up was certainly something Clark never thought he would live to see, and as Lex stepped out, he definitely never saw Lex in blue jeans and a long-sleeved tee. If it wasn't for Martha's gasp beside him, he would have surely ripped the door off the hinges. Johnathan pushed them aside, squeezing through the door to confront Lex. Clark and Martha snapped out of their daze and followed him.

Lex came around to the front of the truck and held out his hand to Johnathan. Johnathan grudgingly took it and shook, observing the truck. The only thing he said in reply was a surprised, "This is a used truck?"

Lex laughed, fiddling with the hem of his shirt, avoiding Clark's eyes. "Um, yes, Mr. Kent. The mansion was in my father's name, so I got what money I could from my personal accounts and selling my cars, which after everything with Oliver Queen wasn't much, so I making cutbacks where I can." Johnathan nodded, then left Lex to lift the hood. Martha stepped forward, embracing Lex like another son. Lex hesitated, unsure what to do, but then shrugged, hugging her back tightly. He needed this after the week he had.

Clark stood frozen. He couldn't bring himself to approach Lex. How does he even approach him? Does Lex feel the same he did before? Did his secret change anything? He breathed a sigh of relief when Lex came up to him.

"Hey, Clark." He said softly. Clark opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again when nothing came out. Before he could stop himself, he pulled Lex into his arms, holding him tightly.

"I was so worried." Clark finally said. Lex hugged him back tightly, burying his face into the bend of Clark's neck. Lex sighed when he caught the familiar scent of sweat, hay, and sun. He pulled back and kissed Clark, ignoring his parent's sharp intakes of breath. Clark kissed him back, all the emotion and concern of the past week behind it. They broke away, breathless. Lex grinned when he saw Clark's wide eyes. "We just saw the news, about Luthorcorp. What's gotten into you? Is this about me? Because if it is, then you can just-"

"Shh." Lex shushed Clark. The Kents waited as Lex walked back to the truck, retrieving a manilla folder, then ran back up to Clark, handing it to him. Clark opened the folder, while Johnathan and Martha read from behind him. Inside were a bunch of documents Clark couldn't really understand, but then one of the pages were snatched from the folder by Martha, who read it over closely before staring increduously at Lex.

"Is that what this is about?" She waved the paper in the air, where Clark could only notice that Lex's signature looked different. "You're changing your name? I mean, I know the news said you were legally separating from the Luthor family, but I never thought..." She trailed off, taking the rest of the paperwork from Clark.

"The thing is, no one knows what happened between me and Jor-El at the fortress." The Kents stiffened, but Johnathan rushed forward.

"What did that monster want in return? He never helps without getting something in return."

"Especially from me." Lex said bitterly. "As it turns out, Jor-El, like the rest of Earth, isn't too fond of the Luthor family. Jor-El agreed to heal Clark and send him back on one condition: Alexander J. Luthor had to die."

"What?!" Clark exclaimed. "He can't do that. He can't just tell you that you have to die! I won't let him, Lex. I won't let him touch you-"

Lex held up his hands, quieting Clark with a small, fond smile. "Unfortunately, Clark, it's already happened. Alexander J. Luthor was born to destroy you and our planet. Because of his fortune, Alexander Luthor would have risen to power and used that power to stop you from saving the Earth from its destruction. Alexander Luthor was born to hate and kill you. Therefore, a couple of signed papers and an intense battle in the courtroom, and, viola. Alexander J. Luthor is legally dead. Now, I'm as much of a threat to you as any other small-town Larry. No offense, Mr. Kent."

Johnathan grunted, smirking. "None taken, Luthor. I mean, um, what's your name now?"

Lex smiled, "Sutton. Lex Sutton. It was my mother's maiden name."

"Alright, Sutton." Johnathan said, clapping Lex's shoulder. "Have you got a place to stay, yet? Any job offers?"

Lex shrugged, grimacing. "No. Nothing yet. The closest job opening I could take is in Metropolis and none of the realtors will return my calls. I can't say I blame them."

"You can work here!" Clark offered, everyone turning to look at him. He shrunk under the attention, but continued. "Dad, you've been saying you needed more help during the growing seasons, and Mom could always give him around-the-house stuff when we're covered. He could even live here. I could always build in the loft into a little apartment-type thing, and I could stay there. He can stay in my room and we can throw in the extra expenses into his pay." He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot as Johnathan watched him. "Please, Dad? They'll treat him like crap in Metropolis. At least here, he's around friends." Martha took Johnathan's hand, giving him a encouraging look. Johnathan Kent sighed, before nodding, then turned to Lex.

"If you take the offer, I can go ahead and show you around." Clark whooped in delight before hugging his dad tightly. His parents laughed, hugging him back. Lex watched the display, his chest aching for something like that. Maybe this was the opportunity to gain more than just a boyfriend...

"Thank you, Mr. Kent. I would love to stay here until I find a place more permanent." Clark ran over to Lex, giving him a brief hug.

"Alright then, Mr. Sutton. Come with me and I'll show you around. Clark," he said over his shoulder, pinning Clark in place with his eye. "Stay with your mother. Lex and I need to have a talk." Lex nodded to Clark, assuring him, and Clark smiled. Lex looked eager. Perhaps this would be the first of many Johnathan Kent-brand fatherly talks.

Clark was still smiling, but when he turned back to his mother, her stern look made it fade. "Of course I'm more than happy to take Lex in, but Lex is going to stay in the loft, and you will not sneak up there in the middle of the night." She turned to head back into the house to start dinner, but she said over her shoulder, "The only way we'll allow that is only if you were married."

Clark blushed, "I don't know, Mom." He watched Lex and his dad walk off into the fields, gradually growing smaller. "Lex Kent has a nice ring to it."

"Forget it, Clark!" She said, but her laugh made it hard to be serious. "You need to set some space heaters up there. It gets chilly at night." She disappeared into the house, but Clark just leaned against Lex's truck and watched Lex talk with his father.

"That's okay," he said to no one. "We know how to keep warm." For the first time in over a week, the idea of seeing Lex naked again sent fire swirling through his eyes. _Yep, we definitely know how to keep warm._


End file.
